Skyward: man's mastery of the air

Skyward is the story of the pilot and explorer who gave rise to American aviation.In this memoir, originally published in 1928, Admiral Richard E. Byrd dramatically re-creates the youthful and dangerous years of American flight. The volume recounts Byrd's early life and his arrival at Pensacola Air Station, the first U.S. military air base, and reconstructs the courage mustered by his comrades -- the first military pilots in the history of America, who literally flew in the face of death. Skyward vividly details the hazards of reaching the North Pole by air, the adventures of the first transatlantic flights, as well as Byrd's fight to persuade Congress and the U.S. Navy to continue their involvement in the new venture called aviation. Absorbingly chronicled also is the planning of Byrd's initial exploration and flight into Antarctica and over the South Pole. Like the accounts of Lindbergh and Shackleton, Byrd's portrait is one of courage, science, and human achievement. Fascinating and revealing, Skyward will bring to a new generation the adventures of a man, whose exploits are among the most compelling in American history.